Background
When Ashanti was 14, she was discovered by Sean Combs, P. Diddy's Bad Boy Records. Initially, she went to Bad Boy Records and sang one of Mary J. Blige's songs in front of P. Diddy and The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls. After being impressed by her singing ability, Diddy later signed her to a development deal, but, due to a bad contract, Ashanti did not sign with Diddy. This ultimately led to a record deal with Jive Records in 1994. This relationship soured when Jive tried to make Ashanti into a pop singer. Ashanti subsequently involved herself in schoolwork, cheerleading, and running on her school's track team. She was an honor student in English and belonged to the English club where she began writing poetry. She was also in the Drama club and performed in a few plays. She put college pursuits aside when Epic Records approached her with a contract in 1998. However, the label's management changes quickly made Ashanti a low priority. She continued to perform at local New York clubs and began hanging out at the The Inc. Records, Murder Inc. recording studio, hoping for another big break. Ashanti was first noticed by Irv Gotti because of her vocal skills. Ashanti initially asked him to produce a few demo songs for her to record so she could say she had some strong tracks by the big time producer but Gotti had a different idea. He asked her to pen hooks for his rap artists and to perform with them in duets. Ashanti provided the melodic response to their call. Ashanti was first featured as a background vocalist on rapper Big Pun's song "How We Roll". In the same year, Ashanti was featured on fellow labelmate Cadillac Tah's singles "Pov City Anthem" and "Just Like a Thug". She also appeared on the 2001 ''The Fast and the Furious (soundtrack), The Fast and the Furious'' soundtrack as a featured artist on rapper Vita's 2001 Hip hop music, hip hop remake of Madonna (entertainer), Madonna's "Justify My Love" and on the solo track "When a Man Does Wrong". She appeared as a background vocalist on "I'm Real (Murder Remix), I'm Real (Murder Remix)", a collaboration by labelmate Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez (she also appeared in the music video for "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix), Aint It Funny (Murder Remix)", the second duet between Lopez and Rule, for which she wrote and also sang background vocals on), and was featured on Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time". "What's Luv?" and "Always on Time" were released simultaneously and became two of the biggest hit songs of 2002. Ashanti became the first female artist to occupy the top two positions on the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart simultaneously when "Always on Time" and "What's Luv?" were at numbers one and two, respectively.Promotion
The album's lead single, titled "Foolish (Ashanti song), Foolish" was released on February 11, 2002. The song became Ashanti's biggest solo successes to date, spending ten consecutive weeks on top of the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts. It was eventually first ranked on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles 2002 year-end charts for eleven straight weeks (Tying with Nelly's single "Dilemma (song), Dilemma", but not for eleven straights weeks). It was a breakthrough hit internationally entering the top five in the United Kingdom, the top ten in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany and Japan, and the top twenty in Switzerland and the Netherlands. "Foolish" was later officially remixed, titled "Unfoolish", with guest appearances from a decease rapper The Notorious B.I.G., was released only just for radio ads. The album's second single, "Happy (Ashanti song), Happy" was released on June 17, 2002. The song peaked at number 8 on US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number 6 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The single became Ashanti's second top ten hit as a solo artist. It was a moderate success internationally, reaching the top ten in the Netherlands, the top twenty in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the top forty in Australia, Ireland, Switzerland and France. The album's third single, "Baby (Ashanti song), Baby" was released on September 9, 2002. The song peaked at number 15 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number 7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. The single became Ashanti's third top-twenty hit as a solo artist in her career. "Dreams" was released as a promotional single, with a live-performance music video with clips from Ashanti's career.Critical reception
''Ashanti'' earned generally mixed reviews from music critics. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it a three-out-of-five-star rating and praised the "modern, post-hip-hop soul" sound, stating the album has "fairly fresh beats and lightly insistent hooks, and is just naughty enough". However, he felt it lacked distinctive material: "It's not bad by any means, and it has its moments, but at 17 tracks, including skits, it all becomes a blur. A pleasing blur, one that shows promise, but a blur all the same." ''Entertainment Weekly'' commended the album's "coy hooks" and "jagged-edged rappers", continuing to say "her voice is supple and pretty but rarely rises above a whisper, making it a background instrument even when it's Ashanti's turn to shine". The ''Los Angeles Times'' had a mixed view of the album, writing "Ashanti's breathy, cooing vocals are well suited to the mellow mood of this collection", however was unimpressed because it was not "substantial". In another mixed review, ''Slant Magazine, Slant'' critic Sal Cinqueman found that "the songs are infectious and fine-tuned and most of the album is underscored with bristling live instrumentation [...] But tracks like the flute-infused "Happy" are admittedly — and perhaps too obviously — influenced by other R&B divas like Mary J. Blige and rarely give way to anything fresh or new. Ultimately, ''Ashanti'' fails to carve a unique niche for the budding singer." ''Rolling Stone''s Kris Ex complimented the album's overall production with its "bass-heavy, slow-burning R&B grooves that sound like everything else on R&B radio" and noted that Ashanti's "voice is the perfect radio-ready R&B; instrument: strong enough to ride over street-savvy beats but unassuming enough to be open to interpretation; better than Britney Spears, Britney but less distinctive than Mary J. Blige." Alluding to her previous collaborations, ''People (magazine), People'' magazine wrote that "it’s one thing to sing a hook on someone else’s record, quite another to carry your own album, as Ashanti fails to do on this desultory debut [...] Ashanti, with her sweet but slight soprano, doesn’t have the grit and power of [other] divas. It doesn’t help that, despite sporadic sampling [...] lack memorable melodies."Legacy
Her debut album earned Ashanti three Grammy Award, Grammy nominations for Grammy Award for Best New Artist, Best New Artist, Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, Best Contemporary R&B Album and Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards. The same year, she also received two additional Grammy nominations for other projects, both in the category of Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Ashanti took home a record 8 billboard awards, winning all the categories she was nominated for. ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine ranked ''Ashanti'' at number 100 on magazine's Top 200 Albums of the Decade. In April 2002, ''Ashanti'' sold 503,000 copies in its first week of release in the United States, becoming a record-breaking feat. It was the highest first week sales for a female artist's debut ever. The album stayed atop the ''Billboard'' 200 for three consecutive weeks. In the same week, she became the first female performer to simultaneously hold the top two places on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart with "Foolish" and "What's Luv" (with Fat Joe). She broke records again by having three top ten songs (Foolish, What's Luv, and Always on Time (with Ja Rule)) on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts in the same week. Otherwise, only The Beatles have achieved this up to that point. In 2009, Billboard.com reported that Ashanti has had the most top 10 songs (16 to date) on the R&B/Hip-hop charts by a female for that respective decade. The album's lead single was named the 19th most successful song of the 2000s (decade) on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Songs of the Decade. As of June 2012, it is the List of best-selling singles, third best selling physical single of the 21st century.Commercial performance
On April 20, 2002, ''Ashanti'' debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 and ''Billboard''s Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart at number one with first-week sales of 503,000 copies in the United States. On December 17, 2002, the album was certified RIAA certification, triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and remained on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart for 55 weeks. ''Ashanti'' had sold 3.6 million copies in the United States as of October 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In Canada, it peaked at number 15 on the chart and was certified two times platinum for shipments of 200,000 copies. As of March 2005, the album had sold six million copies worldwide.Track listing
Notes
* signifies a co-producerSample credits
* "Intro" contains elements of "Always on Time" (with Ja Rule), "What's Luv?" (with Fat Joe & Ja Rule), "Just Like a Thug" & "POV City Anthem" (both with Cadillac Tah), "The I.N.C." (with Ja Rule, Cadillac Tah and Black Child), "How We Roll (Big Pun song), How We Roll" (with Big Pun) and "When a Man Does Wrong" which are all previous Ashanti songs and features. * "Foolish" and "Unfoolish" contains a sample from "Stay with Me (DeBarge song), Stay with Me" by DeBarge. * "Happy" contains an interpolation of "Outstanding" by the Gap Band. * "Baby" contains an interpolation of "Mary Jane" by Scarface (rapper), Scarface. * "Unfoolish" contains samples from "F*** You Tonight" by the Notorious B.I.G. * "Dreams" contains a portion of "Love Me in a Special Way" by DeBarge.Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Ashanti''. * Ashanti (singer), Ashanti – lead vocals (1-4, 6-11, 13–14, 16–17), background vocals (1-4, 6-11, 13–14, 16,17) * Irv Gotti – vocals (7, additional on 8), audio mixing (2-4, 6-11, 13–14, 16–17) * Ja Rule – vocals (1, 4, additional on 3) * Robert Bacon – guitar (4, 8, acoustic on 16), bass guitar (16) * Courtnie Cox - additional vocals (16) * Steven Cox - additional vocals (16) * Kenneth Crouch – grand piano (16) * Free Marie, Free - additional vocals (1) * Kevin T. Green - additional vocals (16) * Janae Huff - additional vocals (16) * Darwin Johnson - bass (3) * Trevor Lawrence Jr. – drums (16) * Jasmine L. Morris - additional vocals (16) * Chink Santana – live drums (13), instruments (7, 9, 13, additional on 3) * Channel 7 (musician), 7 Aurelius – grand piano, electric guitar (16), instruments (6, 10–11, additional on 2, 4, 8, 14, 16), additional music programming (9), audio mixing (4, 6, 8, 10–11, 14, 16) * Shia – vocals (15) * Butch Small - percussion (14) * Asif Ali – recording engineer (4, 17) * Chris Dela Pena – assistant engineer (16), assistant mixing (4, 8, 10–11, 13–14, 17) * Tony Duran (photographer), Tony Duran – photography * (Supa Engineer) Duro - audio mixing (2, 9) * Brian "Big Bass" Gardener – mastering * Deidre Graham – marketing * Charles "Chee" Heath – assistant engineer (3, 7, 9, 13) * Terry "Murda Mac" Herbert - assistant engineer (2, 6, 8, 10–11, 14) * Jeremy Makenzie - assistant engineer (4, 17) * Milwaukee Buck – recording engineer (2-3, 6-11, 13–14) * Brian Springer – recording engineer (16), audio mixing (1, 3–4, 6–8, 10–11, 13–14, 16–17) * David Tan – marketing * Tony Vanias – recording coordinatorCharts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
Certifications and sales
Release history
References
{{Authority control 2002 debut albums Albums produced by Chink Santana Albums produced by Irv Gotti Albums with cover art by Tony Duran Ashanti (singer) albums Def Jam Recordings albums Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album